Pure Titanium, any one have dealings with it?

D

DOTTB

Joined
Dec 27, 2000
Messages
24
My friend is a black smith, and he went to a airforce dump and found a old A-10 warthog. He ripped out the Titanium "Bathtub" around the cock pit and now doesnt know how to make it into a good knife. The bad thing is he couldnt even dent the damn stuff, It took him a day to cut out with a plasma cutter a peice for a knife, now he cant do anything with it. Anyone know how to make a knife out of it?

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I believe, in my personnel opinion, which hasn't much wieght of knowledge or fact:
That if he does indeed have the titanium (the airforce doesn't really dump old A10s like that, there are a serious of steps) He's likely in a lot of trouble if caught. That "tub" is worth, (if I recall correctly) about 12k. That said, it will make a poor blade. Titanium while tough, doesn't hold an edge well. It was favored by US Navy EOD personnel for the reasoning that it was not to conductive of electricity. A really stiff steel is often brittle at the extreme edge.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
 
While your friend's procurement techniques do sound a bit suspect, he really should do a little research and find out exactly what type of titanium was used for the A-10's cockpit armor. Much like steel, titanium is available in a wide variety of different alloys and the performance of a blade will be affected greatly by the grade of Ti that is used. I'd suggest sending an email to Johm Moore at Mission Knife & Tool. No guarantees, but he may have some idea what type of Ti was used in the A-10.

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Semper Fi

-Bill
 
the airforce dump your friend got the ti from
is commonly refered to as a bone yard which the airforce puts planes that will never fly again but can be scrounged for parts and yes the A10 is still in service an that drum is still worth money and stealing government property is a federal offense.
 
The dump is open, and he paid atleast 200hundred for the metal, so he's in the clear. Although he figured out one way, he's using a grinder to grind out a good blade. HE's just got to buy a new grinding stone, the stuff wore out his old one. If you have any other helpful hints on this please post

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I can draw any knife I want, I just can afford to make it, or buy it.....
 
Perhaps a search is needed to determine the supplier of titanium to the Air Force. In the aerospace industry at least, I believe there are only 4/5 suppliers. One is Sandvick Industries and another is Haynes. They are also suppliers to the bicycle industry such as Merlin, Lightspeed, Dean, and Fuji. The bicycle industry designates their frame tubing with specs such as 3Al- 2.5V and 6Al 4V. Al for aluminum and V for vanadium. The former being much stiffer for riding characteristics. One needs to know the makeup of contents (alloys in %) to determine if that "tub" is suitable for bladesteel. Ti in its raw state is quite soft for those who do not know. It is when mixed with the proper alloys that makes it super hard. Hope this helps a bit.

BTW, I understand that alloyed Ti can be water jet cut...

L8r,
Nakano
 
I've cut Commercially Pure, 6AL4V and 6242 up to .500 with a plasma cutter without any problems. Maybe it is a Beta alloy. Darrell Ralph is very knowledgeable about ti. Maybe he knows more.

BTW Waterjet cutting works great with titanium.

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Chuck Bybee
titanium.man@gte.net
http://www.titanium-man.com
 
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